ICENI - COLUMNISTS
www.icenimagazine.co.uk
Issue 90 2020
Busy Month A very busy month for me. Not only did I celebrate my birthday - a socially distanced lunch with four friends (which was lovely, but I really do miss being able to hug people) - I have also been busy with our new horror and thriller podcast, Above: Keri Beevis writing my new book (my second one since lockdown) plus, almost a year after it was first released, Dying To Tell topped the Australian Kindle Chart. I honestly had to pinch myself. And it was made all the more special, as my fab publisher sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers and some bubbly. Not long after my book topped the chart, I was out for a walk with my mother and she was marvelling at just where I get my imagination. I am not the only creative one in our family. My brother is a pretty good artist and my sister isn’t bad at writing or drawing. ‘I just don’t understand where it comes from,’ my mother told me. ‘I don’t have a creative bone in my body, and neither did your father.’ She’s not fibbing there. My mother is the least imaginative person and while I think my dad would have quite liked to be an author, he couldn’t tell a story to save his life. Thank goodness then my aunt stepped forward to take the credit. After seeing me achieve success, she announced that she has always quite fancied writing a book and off she went to sign up to a writing class.
My aunt stared out of the window, spotting a tree in the field, and chewed thoughtfully on her pen as she considered her story. Feeling inspired, she started to write. ‘I look out of the window and there is a tree in the field. It has green leaves.’ After that her mind went blank. Never mind, maybe she would do better with the second writing prompt. Waking up on a cold morning to find the water pipes frozen. This was better, there was more to work with here. My aunt started to write. ‘I woke up and the water pipes were frozen, so I picked up the phone and called the plumber.’ Needless to say, my aunt didn’t continue with her writing classes and no more has been said about her book. As for my imagination and creativity? Heck knows. Maybe it was a gift from the fairies.
During the first lesson, the teacher gave the class a writing prompt. She wanted them to look out of the window and develop a story from what they could see.
My crime thriller, D For Dead is available to buy in paperback and Kindle now. Follow me on Facebook or Twitter for more information. PAGE
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